Dogs - Senses - Coats

 Senses

Dogs have the identical five senses as humans. However, some are extra fantastically developed, and others are poor compared with those of human beings. Dogs’ feel of scent is by means of some distance the most acute and is immeasurably higher than that of humans. Dogs are used for such responsibilities as monitoring lacking individuals, digging underground, and tracing toxic materials, along with gases, which can be undetectable through human beings. Dogs can stumble on tablets, explosives, and the scents in their masters. Not all dog noses are the same, but. Some breeds, which includes the German shepherd and the bloodhound, have a lot greater keenly evolved olfactory senses than others. One would no longer pick a quick-nosed breed, which includes the pug, to have interaction in tracking.

Even in short-nosed breeds, however, the olfactory centre is highly pretty evolved. It is organized in folds with a view to clear out smells from the incoming air. Some rescue dogs are trained to comply with a scent at the floor, and others are trained to fragrance the air. Both are in a position to differentiate one character from another even after a significant passage of time. Hunting puppies—inclusive of suggestions, retrievers, and spaniels—are trained to heady scent birds and may distinguish one variety of bird from every other.

The dog’s sense of taste is poorly developed compared with that of humans. If forced to live on their own, dogs will eat almost anything without much discrimination.

Dogs own an acute feel of listening to. Aboriginal breeds had large, erect and really mobile ears that enabled them to listen sounds from a high-quality distance in any direction. Some modern-day breeds have better listening to than others, but all of them can locate noises properly past the range of the human ear. Dogs are able to check in sounds of 35,000 vibrations in keeping with second (in comparison with 20,000 consistent with second in human beings), and that they also can close off their inner ear if you want to clear out distracting sounds.

The eyesight of a canine isn't always as eager as its sense of odor, and it is usually thought that dogs have bad shade belief. Some breeds, which includes the Saluki and the Afghan Hound, were developed to chase sport by sight over long distances, and those dogs can see well enough to stumble on any movement a ways on the horizon. Dogs can typically see higher in bad light than people however now not as properly in vivid mild. They have a much wider subject of imaginative and prescient than humans because their eyes are set further towards the edges in their heads, however they may be now not as adept at focusing on objects at close variety or at judging distances. Dogs have a third eyelid, a membrane that protects the eyeball from irritants and is every so often seen in the front of the attention.

Dogs are sensitive to touch, the fifth sense, and use this sense to communicate with one another and with their human counterparts. Learning where to touch a dog is an important part in either stimulating or relaxing it and is useful in training a puppy or bonding with an adult dog.

Coats

There are three basic types of hair: short (as on a pointer or Doberman pinscher), medium (as on an Irish setter or Siberian husky), and long (as on a chow chow or Maltese). Within these categories there are also coarse and fine types of hair. Dogs come in a wide variety of colours, but in many breeds colour selection is an important consideration, as is the colour distribution on the dog.

Most dogs shed their coats seasonally. This is a natural occurrence that depends in large measure on the amount of available daylight. In the fall as days become shorter, a dog’s coat will grow thicker and longer. In the spring the dog will begin to shed its coat, and it will take longer for the coat to grow in over the summer. Temperature influences the amount of body coat a dog grows. Dogs living in warm climates all year long rarely grow hair coats as thick as those living in colder areas, although this will affect the body coat and the amount of protective undercoat more than the topcoat or the length of furnishings on the belly, ears, and tail.

Grooming is an important part of touch to a dog and can be a pleasurable and relaxing means of relating to it. The dog’s coat forms a barrier between the environment and the skin. Grooming the coat enhances the dog’s beauty and well-being and gives the owner the chance to evaluate the general health of the dog.

Dogs - Reproduction - Sexual maturity - Reproductive cycle - Gestation and whelping - Reproductive capacity

 

Reproduction

Sexual maturity

There is some variation in the age at which dogs reach sexual maturity. Small breeds appear to mature faster than large ones, which usually cycle later. It is not uncommon for large-breed females to come into heat for the first time at more than 1 year of age, although 8 to 9 months is the norm. Dogs are sexually mature between 6 months and 1 year but are not socially mature until they are about 2 years of age. Females first cycle anywhere from 6 to 18 months of age and approximately twice a year thereafter. The only exception is the African basenji, which cycles annually, bearing one litter a year.

Reproductive cycle

The heat cycle of the female lasts from 18 to 21 days. The first stage is called proestrus. It begins with mild swelling of the vulva and a bloody discharge. This lasts for about 9 days, although it may vary by 2 or 3 days. During this phase the bitch may attract males, but she is not ready to be bred and will reject all advances. The next phase is the estrus. Usually the discharge decreases and becomes lighter, almost pink, in colour. The vulva becomes very enlarged and soft, and the bitch will be receptive to the male. This stage may last 3 or 4 days or as long as 7 to 11 days. The female may be receptive a day or two past the time when she would still be fertile. In order to be sure that the breeding is taking place at the optimum time, vaginal smears and blood tests can be done by a veterinarian beginning before estrus and through the estral phase.

At about the 14th day, or whenever estrus ends, the final, or luteal, stage of the cycle begins; this stage is called diestrus. The discharge becomes redder, the vulva returns to its normal size, and the bitch will no longer accept the male for mating. When all signs of discharge and swelling are absent, the heat is complete. The diestrus stage lasts 60 to 90 days (if no pregnancy has occurred) or until the bitch gives birth. She then enters anestrus, which is the time frame between the end of the last cycle and the beginning of the next proestrus.

Canine males are always fertile from the onset of their sexual adolescence, usually after six months of age. Larger-breed males may take a few months longer to become sexually mature. Males are usually promiscuous and are willing to mate with any available female.

Males produce far more sperm than is needed to impregnate the ova that are released during estrus. Small-breed bitches usually produce small litters. Two or 3 puppies in a breed such as a Yorkshire terrier is considered the norm. Large-breed litters can have as many as 10 or 12 puppies, although the normal bitch can suckle up to 8 at a time.

Gestation and whelping

The normal gestation period is 63 days from the time of conception. This may vary if the bitch has been bred two or three times or if the eggs are fertilized a day or two after the mating has taken place. Eggs remain fertile for about 48 hours. Sperm can live in the vaginal tract for several days. In order to determine if a bitch is pregnant, a veterinarian can manually palpate her abdomen at about 25 days after breeding. Ultrasound also can be done at that time. At about 40 days X rays will confirm pregnancy.

Most bitches whelp normally. However, the large-headed, short-bodied breeds and the toy breeds often must undergo cesarean sections in order to deliver live puppies.

Reproductive capacity

Both males and females are fertile well into their advanced age. It is generally considered best for the bitch to be bred for the first time upon maturity but not before her second or third heat cycle, depending on her age at the first. Because small breeds mature more quickly, they can be bred at an earlier age than large breeds. A bitch will have less difficulty in conceiving and carrying a litter if she is bred before the age of five. As she becomes older, litter size generally decreases. After the age of seven, bitches are likely to have small litters and experience problems in delivering the puppies. Veterinarians feel that bitches generally should not be bred after that age. Males can be bred as long as they are fertile, although with age the motility and quantity of sperm decrease.

Dogs - Behaviour - Territory and range - Barking - Behavioral development - Breed-specific behaviour - Selection

 

Behaviour

The dog is a social creature. It prefers the company of people and of other dogs to living alone. It is, therefore, considered by animal behaviourists to be a pack animal. In this respect it is similar to its distant relative the wolf. As a result of millennia of selective breeding, the dog has been adapted to live with people. Seminal studies of dog behaviour conducted in the 1950s and ’60s showed, however, that dogs raised without human contact at an early age retain their inherent instincts and prefer relationships with other dogs over associations with people.

Territory and range

Both dogs and wolves are territorial animals. Wolf packs, because of their need to hunt game, claim large territories as their own, whereas dogs claim their territories based on the limitations of their owners. Male wolves and dogs mark their territorial boundaries by urinating and rubbing their scent on the ground or on trees to warn other animals of their presence.

When on neutral ground, that which is not considered by either dogs or wolves to be their home territory, strangers greeting each other will go through formal rituals of sniffing, marking, tail wagging, and posturing. Unless they are claiming the same prey or are engaged in courting the same female, such interactions are usually terminated by each going its own way. Females will attack strangers in neutral territory to protect their young, however.

Barking

Both dogs and wolves have a repertoire of barks, growls, and howls that are identifiable among themselves and to humans who have studied their vocabulary. Dog owners can determine by certain sounds whether their pet is playful, warning of a stranger nearby, fearful, or hurt. One of the earliest signs that puppies are becoming social and independent creatures within the litter are the yips and barks that they make while playing with one another. Dogs, unlike wolves, will growl if cornered or fearful. Certain breeds of dogs, notably hounds, have been bred to enhance the howling instinct when they are on the trail of game. Some of the northern breeds, such as the Siberian husky, howl rather than bark. At the other end of the spectrum, the basenji does not bark but rather emits a yodeling sound when it is happy.

Behavioral development

Canine behaviour is a combination of instinct and environment. Dogs are born with certain innate characteristics that are evident from birth. Puppies are born blind and deaf, totally dependent on the dam for warmth and nourishment. The dam will instinctively suckle and protect her young, often keeping other dogs and all but the most trusted people away from the whelping box. Between 10 and 14 days after birth, the eyes and ear canals open, and the puppies begin to move actively around their nest. As they grow, they become more curious and start to investigate their surroundings independently. The dam will begin to leave them alone briefly. During this phase they relate most intensely to their littermates and dam and may become unhappy at being removed from their familiar surroundings. This stage of development lasts about 20 days and is the first of four critical periods. Beginning at three weeks of age, the most adventurous puppies will seek ways to get out of the whelping box and will start to investigate the larger world. At this age puppies are receptive to human contact, which is essential if they are to bond with people when they become adults. Dogs left alone from four weeks on will never reach their full potential as pets and will often become independent and more difficult to train than those accustomed to close human contact from an early age. At the same time, during the period between three and seven weeks, it is important that puppies socialize with their littermates and dam. This is when the dam weans her puppies, first by regurgitating some of her own food and then by not allowing her puppies to nurse as often as they would like. At about four weeks of age, puppies can be offered solid food in the form of a soft gruel. Individual socialization of each puppy in a litter can begin at six weeks of age. This is when puppies begin to be more receptive to handling and attention.

The third critical period in a puppy’s development is from 7 to 12 weeks. It has been shown in studies undertaken at various breeding kennels that this is the best age to form human-dog relationships. Attachments formed during this period will affect the attitude of the dog toward humans and toward its acceptance of direction and learning. During this period the pack instinct, which has played such an important role in the puppy’s early development, can be transferred to humans. At this time environment becomes a vital part of the dog’s education and training. This is when a human can most easily establish dominance over the dog, becoming the “leader of the pack.” At this age a dog will accept a submissive role more readily than at any other time in its life. Learning comes most readily at this age. Puppies taught basic commands, even if they are not reinforced for several months, will remember them and respond if they are taught during this critical age.

The fourth critical stage in a puppy’s development is between 12 and 16 weeks. At this age the puppy will declare its independence from its mother and will become increasingly daring in its forays from the familiar. Puppy training can begin during this period, and it is a time of rapid physical and mental growth. The permanent teeth begin to emerge at this time, which is often a painful and distractive process. Puppies need to chew during this period, and, if they are not provided with appropriate teething toys, they will use any available hard object, such as furniture. Puppies at this age may be less willing to cooperate or respond to new commands.

A dog’s personality continues to develop during its entire maturing process and will undergo radical changes while the dog matures sexually and physically. Dogs mature sexually earlier than they do emotionally. Their personalities develop more slowly than their bodies, much like humans but unlike wolves, whose personalities and sexuality develop more harmoniously.

At about seven or eight months many puppies tend to go through a period of anxiety. They are insecure, frightened of strangers, and will appear timid. If this is not an inherited trait, it will disappear within a few months. If it is inherited, that condition will remain and may become accentuated with time.

Breed-specific behaviour

There are distinctive breed-typical personalities that have been developed through generations of selection for certain traits. By roughly grouping dogs according to the work they were bred to do, it is possible to determine the type of temperament a dog might have at maturity. Differences in breed personalities can be seen at an early age. Sporting dogs will generally be adventurous, following their noses wherever scents lead them, but will respond enthusiastically to calls from familiar humans. Hounds generally tend to be more aloof and independent, inclined to scout the territory on their own and follow a scent or a movement; they are not as interested in human interaction as the bird dogs are.

Working and herding puppies have greater commercial enterprise-like tendencies. They generally tend to assess situations and set approximately their duties. Collie dogs have been recognised to herd children, ducklings, or every different in an instinctive manifestation of their birthright. Guarding dogs have a tendency to be protecting of their territories, even at an early age. Such dogs as the Maremma or the kuvasz, which might be bred to guard flocks, are located with the sheep from the time they may be dogs with a view to toughen their fundamental defensive instincts. Collies and Akitas are regarded for their robust experience of loyalty. Terriers, bred to chase and seize rodents, have a tendency to be extraordinarily energetic, active, and feisty as puppies, developments that maintain into maturity. Newfoundlands are famend for lifesaving instincts.

Breed specificity additionally influences how properly dogs adapt to new environment or to new proprietors. Such things can't be taught to dogs. They are innate—a part of a dog’s instinctive behaviour—and are regularly breed-specific, although blended breeds had been regarded for precise instincts as properly.

The companionship between human beings and puppies isn't always a brand new phenomenon. However, in modern society most puppies are owned as pets, now not due to the work they have been bred to do. Many breeds, consisting of the toy dogs, have been advanced precisely to be pets. All of the diverse breeds and mixed breeds have specific trends and enchantment to distinct forms of human beings.

Acquiring a canine is a prime choice, due to the fact the canine will become totally depending on its proprietor for its care and welfare. This responsibility continues throughout the existence of the canine. Thus, the initial decision must be based on a critical attention of whether or not one’s life-style genuinely lends itself to proudly owning a dog—this is, whether or not a dog might be an asset in preference to a legal responsibility.

Selection

The next attention is the selection of a particular sort of dog. Many people need a purebred dog because they prefer the advent or the character, and they're confident that the pup they buy will grow up to seem like the breed it represents. Others discover that a blended breed will do just as nicely, and there are numerous shelters, humane societies, and rescue businesses that harbour puppies in want of houses. No count what sort of canine someone chooses, it's far crucial that or not it's a healthy animal. When evaluating a pup or an adult canine, numerous functions will help determine the bodily situation of the animal. The canine should appear pleasant and outgoing. Puppies specifically need to exhibit curiosity and a tail-wagging enthusiasm. They have to not cling again or appear timid or worried. Eyes should be bright and shiny with no discharge, and the inner eyelids have to be easy and red. Ears ought to be clean-smelling and freed from debris. Gums should be crimson and company, except within the case of chow chows and shar-peis, whose gums and tongue are black. The skin ought to experience heat and dry to touch. Clammy pores and skin or the presence of reddened patches, crusts, scales, or parasites are indicative of troubles that could be each external and inner. The hair coat ought to be clean and sweet-smelling. The canine must be in accurate shape and construct, however now not overweight or so thin that the ribs and hipbones display. People shopping for purebred puppies ought to understand the exceptional traits of the breed they have got chosen, with a view to ask the breeder right questions and have some manner of comparing the first-class of the dog they're shopping. Many purebred dogs have hidden genetic problems of which precise breeders are conscious. Many of these troubles can be managed via careful breeding, but the consumer ought to recognise—thru studying approximately the breed and speakme to fanciers—what questions to ask. Mixed-breed puppies also can have hidden genetic troubles, but there is no way to determine what they is probably or whether or not they will in the end affect the canine in an unfavourable manner. Great strides are being made in veterinary studies to pick out genetic defects and thereby assist breeders to choose the fine breeding stock. By removing from their gene pool those dogs with genetic abnormalities, breeders can help make certain that the breed remains healthy and feasible.

What Are Hypoallergenic Dogs?

 If you or a person on your own circle of relatives is an hypersensitivity victim and you’re seeking out a dog companion, you is probably wondering: what precisely is a hypoallergenic canine? 

The phrase “hypoallergenic canine breeds” is thrown round a lot — however if you’re attempting to find a canine that’s the proper suit to your restrictions, you’ll need to apprehend precisely what this approach. 

So, first and foremost, it’s essential to set up that no canine breed is 100% hypoallergenic or allergen-loose. Instead, as Dr. Lynn Buzhardt writes for VCA Hospitals, the time period hypoallergenic is used to refer to “breeds which are much less possibly to stimulate allergic reactions in humans.”

Therefore, even when you have a hypoallergenic breed, this doesn’t always suggest that the canine won’t motive an hypersensitive reaction for a person on your family who has allergic reactions — it simply approach the canine is a great deal greater not going to motive an hypersensitive reaction in evaluation to different breeds.

Interestingly enough, in line with Dr. Buzhardt, what constitutes a “hypoallergenic canine breed” is frequently debated in studies research and among experts. She indicates that despite the fact that a few canine breeds are frequently taken into consideration hypoallergenic because of precise traits they possess (which we’ll speak shortly!), the reality can be that how hypoallergenic a canine is can also additionally rely upon the character canine and person.

She maintains on to mention that now no longer all puppies produce the equal proteins, so a few humans are allergic to a particular canine and now no longer a particular breed. Therefore, someone may want to react to at least one Maltese and stay hypersensitivity-loose with another. Ultimately, matters in large part rely upon the canine and the person.

With this expertise in mind,if you’re seeking out a canine to reduce the capability for an hypersensitive reaction, you’re going to need first of all the ones which are taken into consideration hypoallergenic. 

Overall, hypoallergenic canine breeds are the ones that:

Don’t shed — in different words, they've a non-losing coat that produces much less dander

Don’t have hair — and therefore, it’s much less possibly that dander clings to the canine

Have short, single-layered coats — that means that with out an undercoat to shed, there may be dander coming off the canine and sticking round on your home

Based on those traits, you may word a theme: dander. Although you may suppose that allergic reactions are as a result of a canine’s fur or hair itself, they genuinely are as a result of the dander that’s observed on a canine’s pores and skin or coat.

Therefore, when you have a canine with a double-coat, thick fur, and sheds a lot, you’re much more likely to have dander floating round, that means more possibilities for an hypersensitive reaction.

Dogs - Nutrition and increase - Ailments

Nutrition and increase

Puppies need 3 basic matters as a way to thrive: correct nutrition, warmth, and companionship. Puppies want to eat 3 or four times a day from the time they may be weaned till they may be about six months antique. Thereafter they can be fed twice a day till adulthood and once day by day after that. However, many canine proprietors, mainly those with large breeds, feed two times a day at some stage in the canine’s existence (this does not imply feeding greater than the specified every day amount, however it's miles a extra balanced approach of feeding).

Puppies need twice an adult dog’s maintenance requirements of energy and nutrients for proper growth from the time they are weaned until they reach about half of their expected mature weight. There should be steady growth on a weekly basis, but there should be no excess fat around the abdomen. Puppies grow best if they remain at a suitable weight without becoming obese. Overweight puppies are candidates for crippling bone diseases if they are too heavy during the critical growing months. On the other hand, feeding too little will result in poor growth and lack of energy. Adult dogs burn fewer calories than do puppies or young and active adults. Therefore, they need to eat less in order to maintain optimum weight and activity. Dogs that work require extra nutrients. For instance, sled dogs need to be fed a diet that is much higher in calories, one with a ratio of fat, protein, and carbohydrates very different from the diet of more sedentary dogs. Owners may have to experiment with different types of food to determine which are best suited to their dogs.

There are three basic types of commercially produced dog foods: canned, dry, and semimoist. Predominant ingredients of most of these include corn, wheat, barley, rice, or soy meal, in combination or alone. Commercial dog foods also include a meat such as beef, lamb, chicken, or liver, or meat by-products. It is important to read the labels to determine the proportions of each and the amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins and minerals contained. Sleep is almost as important as nutrition for puppies. A warm, quiet place for them to rest is essential for normal growth. Puppies will usually play vigorously and then suddenly fall asleep. Their need for sleep decreases as they grow into adulthood, but dogs spend a great deal of their time sleeping when they are not stimulated to activity. All dogs need exercise, some more than others. Achieving good health and sound temperament demands that dogs be given the opportunity for regular stimulating exercise. Puppies should be allowed to run at will without restraint and without being pushed beyond their limits. As dogs mature, jogging or walking on a lead can be introduced, but any forced exercise should be withheld until the dog is fully grown. The most common cause of a dog’s destructive behaviour in the house is lack of exercise. Behavioral problems such as tail chasing, chewing, and excessive barking and whining can in most cases be traced to confinement for long periods of time without respite. The ability to provide adequate exercise is one of the most important considerations that prospective dog owners must face before acquiring a puppy. Exercise, however, does not mean allowing the dog to run at large. Dogs ought to be supervised at all times when outside: they either should be accompanied by owners using a lead or have a securely fenced area in which to play.

The term companion animal means that dogs need company. They are happiest when allowed to be an integral part of the household. Puppies thrive and learn when they are included in the household routine at an early age. Training becomes easier when the unique bond between human and dog is strengthened from the beginning.

Dogs need ordinary care from the time they're born. In addition to a balanced weight-reduction plan, grooming is an essential a part of keeping properly health. Care of the ears, coat, and nails on a weekly foundation offers proprietors an possibility to examine their pets and to spot any ability contamination. Ears have to be wiped clean frequently and nails saved trimmed. Brushing should be a part of a canine’s weekly or even every day routine. Dogs with long or thick coats will want greater common brushing than brief-haired sorts so as to loosen useless hair and prevent pores and skin irritations or infection.

Regular veterinary care is vital to a dog’s fitness. Puppies typically are vaccinated in opposition to the most virulent illnesses, starting at six weeks of age. A collection of 3 or 4 vaccinations against distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, leptospirosis, and parvovirus are given 3 weeks aside. At three months of age puppies may be inoculated towards rabies. Booster vaccinations are given yearly thereafter, besides for rabies shots, which may be administered each two or three years, relying on the place. Routine vaccination techniques have succeeded in decreasing, and in some regions putting off, diseases that previously killed half of of all puppies born.

In many areas veterinarians advise that dogs be tested annually for heartworm disease and be given a preventative. This ought to be administered during the dog’s lifestyles as lengthy because it resides in a region where and while this parasite is frequent.

Ailments

Fleas and ticks are resources of irritation and ailment in every climate of the world (with the possible exception of the Arctic). Regular bathing and grooming helps to maintain those and other external parasites beneath control. Treatment of the animal and its environment are important to dispose of these pests. In some areas that is a yearlong process, while in other climates it's miles a seasonal hassle. Internal parasites are a not unusual cause of sickness, mainly in dogs. There are many forms of worms that invade the intestinal tract, ensuing in listlessness, loss of blood and next anemia, bad hair coat, and every so often death. Many of these parasites are determined in dust and are ingested or get into the bloodstream through the skin of the canine. Effective veterinary remedies are to be had for the animal, but it is critical to decide via fecal exam or blood checks precisely what kind of parasite is present. Puppies must be examined about every three months, and adults need to be examined annually. Dogs are susceptible to most of the equal ailments that afflict humans. Cancer, respiration ailments, allergies, arthritis, and positive forms of heart sickness are all located in dogs. Some ailments have a breed predilection, while others occur in all natural and blended breeds. Large- and massive-breed puppies, inclusive of Irish setters, St. Bernards, bloodhounds, and Great Danes, are at risk of a situation known as gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV). This sickness reasons the belly to twist inside the belly cavity, slicing off the blood supply and filling the belly with fuel. GDV is usually a medical emergency and ought to be treated as quickly as the first symptoms seem. Early warnings can be restlessness, unsuccessful attempts to vomit or defecate, swelling of the abdomen, or distention of the rib cage.

Large breeds are also at risk for an orthopedic hassle in which the hip joint does not increase well. This is known as hip dysplasia and is considered to be a polygenetic situation. It is a modern disease in which the malformation of the hipbones reasons arthritic adjustments, lameness, and ache. Some breeds are also liable to growing elbow dysplasia and other issues of the bones and joints. Dogs constructed with lengthy, low bodies, including dachshunds, often develop spinal accidents or malformations of the spinal column. Dogs do not suffer from high cholesterol or from the lifestyles-threatening circulatory illnesses that afflict human beings, however certain breeds are predisposed to malformations of the coronary heart muscle and valves. Some of these are surgically correctable, even as others aren't. In addition, heartworm and different parasites may additionally have an effect on the coronary heart and circulatory machine. Dogs are as a whole lot liable to contracting cancers as human beings are. The treatment is often the identical. Cancers most customarily seen in puppies contain osteosarcomas, mammary tumours, and lymphomas. Veterinary research is at the vanguard of the improvement of recent treatments for cancers within the hope that new methods for preventing them in humans will be located in the system. Eye illnesses, lots of which can be hereditary, also are observed in dogs. Dogs are subject to cataracts, glaucoma, and retinal sicknesses, all of that can cause blindness. Treatments in dogs aren't as a hit as in humans, however dogs appear to modify to imaginative and prescient loss thoroughly so long as they are stored in familiar environment. Their keen feel of smell helps them to get around, despite the fact that they need to be protected from unexpected falls and unexpected dangers. Many canine ocular problems of a hereditary starting place are difficult to eradicate due to the fact they do no longer appear in a few breeds till the dogs are five or six years antique. Nonetheless, genetic studies to become aware of dogs that are companies or that will develop eye problems has made good sized strides because it commenced in the Nineteen Seventies. Breeds with massive, protruding eyes, along with the Pekingese or the pug, are at risk of eye irritations and corneal lacerations. These ought to be attended to directly to keep away from critical damage to the attention. Dogs with dropped ears—the basset hound is an excessive example—are susceptible to illnesses of the ear canal. Moisture turns into trapped inside the ear, generating yeast infections. Such parasites as ear mites thrive within the ear canal, inflicting a darkish, malodorous exudate. Frequently, the canine is uncomfortable and scratches the ears or rubs the ears alongside the ground or at the furnishings. Most ear troubles may be cured with right medicine. If problems are left unattended, the ear canal will increase ulcerations which might be painful and hard to deal with.

Dogs

Canine, (Canis lupus familiaris), homegrown vertebrate of the own family Canidae (request Carnivora). It is a subspecies of the darkish wolf (Canis lupus) and is recognized with foxes and jackals. The dog is one of the two commonly typical and maximum well-known homegrown creatures on this planet (the tom cat is the opposite). For over 12,000 years it has lived with people as a looking pal, defender, item of contempt or worship, and accomplice. 

The canine developed from the dark wolf into in excess of 400 unmistakable sorts. Individuals play had a full-size affect in making dogs that satisfy specific cultural requirements. Through the most easy sort of hereditary designing, canines had been reared to emphasize impulses that were apparent from their soonest reports with people. In spite of the reality that insights regarding the development of dogs are dubious, the number one canine had been trackers with sharp feelings of sight and scent. People fostered these senses and made new varieties as need or want emerged. 

Canines are reputable diversely in numerous pieces of the world. Attributes of faithfulness, companionship, defense, and love have received dogs a giant situation in Western way of life, and inside the United States and Europe the attention and looking after canines has was a multibillion-greenback commercial enterprise. Western civilization has given the relationship among human and canine wonderful importance, be that as it is able to, in a portion of the agricultural international locations and in severa spaces of Asia, dogs aren't held in a similar regard. In positive areas of the sector, dogs are utilized as gatekeepers or % animals or in any occasion, for meals, even though in the United States and Europe dogs are ensured and appreciated. In antiquated Egypt for the duration of the instances of the pharaohs, dogs were considered as holy.

Origins and history of the dogs History Paleontologists and archaeologists have established that about 60 million years ago a small mammal, alternating like a weasel, lived near what is now Asia, known as Miacis, the genus that is known in the ancestors of what is today Canids recognized animals: dogs, jackals, wolves and foxes. Miacis left no direct offspring, but dog-like canids evolved from it. About 30 to 40 million years ago, Miacis had become the actual primary dog: more precisely, Cynodictis, was a medium-length animal, longer than it was tall, with a long tail and rather bushy fur. Over the millennia, Cynodictis has raised two branches, one in Africa and the other in Eurasia. known as Tomarctus and is the progenitor of wolves, cubs and foxes.

Genetic evidence shows that puppies descended at once from wolves (Canis) and that the now-extinct wolf lineages that produced dogs branched off from the line that produced modern-day residing wolves someday between 27,000 and 40,000 years in the past. The timing and area of dog domestication is a matter of discussion. There is strong genetic evidence, however, that the first domestication activities took place somewhere in northern Eurasia among 14,000 and 29,000 years ago. In this location wolves probable facilitated their personal domestication by trailing nomadic humans in northern Eurasia and ingesting the stays of recreation animals that hunters left behind.

Most studies agree that domestication became no longer a unmarried discrete occasion. It became a technique that unfolded over hundreds of years—possibly related to canine populations that regarded in extraordinary elements of Eurasia at special times, with puppies and wild wolves continuing to interbreed with each other and with early canine populations being replaced by means of later ones. Some genetic studies have documented evidence of early domestication activities in precise regions. One study contends that wolves were domesticated sixteen,three hundred years in the past to serve as cattle in China, whereas any other reports that early puppies relationship from approximately 12,000 to 14,000 years in the past got here from a small stress of grey wolf that inhabited India. Genetic proof additionally well-knownshows that dogs did not accompany the first human beings to the New World more than 15,000 years ago, suggesting alternatively that puppies got here to the Americas just a few 10,000 years in the past. One take a look at even counseled that a few dogs have descended no longer from the wolf but instead from the jackal. These puppies, determined in Africa, might have given upward push to a number of the present local African breeds.

No matter what their origins, all canids have positive not unusual traits. They are mammals that endure stay young. The females have mammary glands, and they suckle their offspring. The early breeds had erect ears and pointed or wedge-fashioned muzzles, similar to the northern breeds commonplace these days. Most of the carnivores have comparable dental structures, that is one manner paleontologists have been able to pick out them. They broaden  sets of teeth, deciduous (“toddler”) enamel and permanent tooth.

Canids walk on their toes, in assessment to an animal just like the endure, which is flat-footed and walks on its heels. Dogs, like most mammals, have body hair and are homeothermic—that is to mention, they have an internal thermostat that allows them to hold their body temperature at a consistent stage no matter the outside temperature.

Fossil remains propose that 5 awesome varieties of puppies existed with the aid of the beginning of the Bronze Age (about 4500 BCE). They have been the mastiffs, wolf-kind dogs, sight hounds (which includes the Saluki or greyhound), pointing dogs, and herding puppies.

Role in human societies

Dogs have performed an important position inside the records of human civilization and have been many of the first domesticated animals. They were essential in hunter-gatherer societies as hunting allies and bodyguards against predators. When farm animals have been domesticated about 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, dogs served as herders and guardians of sheep, goats, and cattle. Although many still serve in those capacities, dogs are in particular used for social purposes and companionship. Today dogs are employed as courses for the blind and disabled or for police paintings. Dogs are even utilized in remedy in nursing houses and hospitals to encourage patients towards recovery. Humans have bred a extensive range of different puppies tailored to serve a ramification of functions. This has been more desirable by means of improvements in veterinary care and animal husbandry.

In historic Egypt puppies have been concept to own godlike traits. They had been pampered by means of their own servants, geared up with jeweled collars, and fed the most appropriate eating regimen. Only royalty became accepted to very own purebred puppies, and upon the dying of a ruler his favored dog was frequently interred with him to defend him from harm within the afterlife.

Illustrations of puppies dating from the Bronze Age had been observed on walls, tombs, and scrolls during Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Often the dogs are depicted hunting recreation with their human counterparts. Statues of dogs protect the entrances to burial crypts. In many cases those puppies truly resemble present day canines. Such relics are indelible testimony to the significance that human beings have given to the dog at some stage in the a long time.

The Origin of Races When it became clear that dogs are faster, stronger, and can see and hear better than humans, specimens exhibiting these qualities were bred to enhance these qualities. Like the mastiffs, they were designed to protect homes and tourists from damage.

As society modified and agriculture—in addition to hunting—became a way of sustaining life, different breeds of dogs were developed. swarming and guarding dogs were necessary to farmers for shielding their flocks. At an equivalent time, little breeds became fascinating as playthings and companions for noble families. The Pekingese in China and fragile breeds reminiscent of the Chihuahua were bred to be lapdogs. The hunting dog breeds were developed, in the main in England, to disembarrass granaries and barns of rodents. inform and retrieving breeds were selected  for special tasks relating to aiding gaseous nebula to search out and capture game. several breeds are very ancient, whereas others are developed as recently because the 1800s.

Dog Head Gear That’s Not A Muzzle

 Dog Head Gear That’s Not A Muzzle

Jumping and pulling on leash are the two most requested training solutions requested by the average dog owner. As humane training evolves, a set of kind, as well as helpful training gear systems, has developed. The no-jump leg harness and the no-pull chest harness are recent inventions.

Often mistaken for a muzzle and thereby creating unwarranted fear in a passerby, the headcollar has been used for thousands of years on llamas, camels, and horses. It was adapted for dogs 20 years ago by Dr. Roger Mugford and is proven to stop pulling ahead.

Today a dog sporting a head collar or halter is a common sight. Dr. Mugford developed the Halti brand head collar as an alternative to the physically damaging choke chain used to control large, aggressive, or difficult pets. The head collar works for goofy dogs, high prey drive, or overstimulated dogs and is welcome safety equipment for children, seniors, or any small handler with a large dog.

A consistent problem with traditional leash training is that the dog instinctively reacts to tension by pulling even harder against that tension. The head collar uses distraction and direction instead of force to shape the desired behavior. Used properly, the head collar allows the handler to steer a dog much the same way as using reins and a halter on a horse.

While the head collar is effective used alone, the initial training can include a regular leash attached to the neck collar or a body harness, and a second lighter leash attached to the head collar ring positioned under the dog’s chin. When the dog pulls ahead the handler directs the dog back with a smooth, gentle steer of the head collar leash. If used in tandem, the regular leash remains slack.

The basic theory is that where the head is turned the body naturally follows. When the dog’s head is turned back, he or she loses sight of the distraction ahead. The dog learns to choose which action-reaction feels best and which gets to a desired destination quickest without stops and starts.

Technique and fit are important for success. As with any new experience, the dog needs to be introduced to a head collar in a positive way. First sessions might simply be a couple of minutes in the living room. The head halter is presented so that the dog puts a nose and then eventually the entire muzzle through the loop to get a treat. The collar is not attached yet. When first clipped on, the dog wears the harness without a leash and enjoys interactive play with a toy or a game of fetch.

If the dog paws at the device or flops on the floor, the process is too fast. Back off and again present loop and treat then move forward to fastening the collar behind the head. It must not be too tight or too high, which risks eye injury as well as being uncomfortable. Fit correctly, a conforming collar does not constrict panting or yawning like a muzzle does. Just as the dog anticipates good things to come when a handler reaches for the leash, he or she comes to expect good things when the head collar is presented.

Once the dog is trained, which can be quite quickly, the head collar is removed and can be carried in a pocket as a lifelong helping tool for situations likely to cause arousal. An excursion involving crowds, lots of movement, and excitement might warrant putting on the head collar ahead of time. If it has become a positive reinforcer and fits well, the dog won’t mind.

There are several brands of head collars with different features. The most important points are that the halter be the right size, positioned correctly conforming to the head and face, presented with positive association, and used with a soft touch. Walking the dog should and can be a mutually satisfying activity for everyone of every age or stature, including the dog.

Horses - The Tapeworm Threat

Tapeworms were once considered a fairly benign parasite, unassociated with serious problems in equines. But recent studies show tapeworms are anything but harmless. Consider the statistics:

81 percent of ileal impactions (a blockage at the end of the small intestine, commonly referred to as an impaction colic) are associated with tapeworms.

22 percent of spasmodic (gas) colics are tapeworm-related.

Ileocecal intussusception (a serious, surgical form of colic where one part of the intestine telescopes into another) is almost always caused by tapeworm infection.

On average, more than 54 percent of horses in the United States have been exposed to tapeworms, including 96 percent of horses in the upper Midwest, more than 80 percent of horses in some Southern regions, and 56 percent of horses in the northern Plains and Mountain regions. Even in the lowest-risk areas of the West Coast, at least one out of every 10 horses has tapeworm exposure.

Why didn’t we know about this before?

Tapeworms Uncovered

“Tapeworms are intestinal parasites that infect horses, as well as other species, throughout the world,” explains Brady J. Bergin, DVM, assistant professor, Oregon State University. “They belong to the class of parasites known as cestodes. The three types of tapeworms that can infect horses are Anoplocephala perfoliata, Anoplocephala magna and Paranoplocephala mamillana, with A. perfoliata being by far the most common.”

Unlike other worms, horse tapeworms need an intermediate host to complete their life cycles. That host, the forage mite, becomes infective by ingesting tapeworm eggs; the horse swallows the infective mites while grazing, and the tapeworms mature in the horse’s intestine within six to 10 weeks. Although much is unknown aboutthe mite’s biology, they’re widespread, living in pastures, lawns and vegetation, says Craig R. Reinemeyer, DVM, Ph.D., immediate past president of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists, and president of East Tennessee Clinical Research Inc., the research group that identified tapeworm prevalence in the United States. The mite also seems to favor temperate climates. “They live in the humus, the organic layer of the soil,” says Robert H. Dressler, DVM, manager of Equine Veterinary Operations at Pfizer Animal Health. “In the arid desert areas of the Southwest, there isn’t a whole lot of humus, and that’s where there is a much lower incidence of tapeworms.”

Bottom line: Any horse that grazes on pasture is at risk for ingesting infected mites.
Although studies now demonstrate that tapeworms are everywhere in the United States (albeit in varying numbers), experts had been unaware of their prevalence because of the inability to accurately diagnose tapeworm infection in the horse. “Traditionally, we looked for tapeworm eggs in fecal exams, but that’s been very ineffective,” Dr. Reinemeyer says. “With most other parasites in horses the females stay in the gut and pass out eggs, and the eggs leave the horse in the manure. With tapeworms, the eggs develop in a lower segment of the worm’s body, which separates and passes out in the fecal matter into the environment, but it’s not an ongoing process. The tapeworm body is like a freight train with a bunch of boxcars, one chained to the other. The end of the tapeworm matures faster than the rest of it, so every once in a while the caboose (which is like a bag of eggs) drops off. That bag may not rupture until it gets outside the horse or gets farther down the track, we don’t know.” Consequently, detecting tapeworm eggs in the manure is a hit-or-mostly-miss procedure. And because veterinarians weren’t seeing tapeworm eggs in fecal exams, they assumed there was no tapeworm problem.

Further, although tapeworms were detected during surgery or postmortem, they weren’t associated with any disease process.

That all changed in the mid-1990s when a British researcher developed a test that could detect an immune response to a specific protein exuded by tapeworms into the horse’s blood. Although this test only determines exposure to tapeworms as opposed to an active infection (much like horses that have been exposed to equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, or EPM, don’t necessarily have the active disease), it was a step in the right direction and enabled researchers to discover just how widespread tapeworms are.

Since then, researchers learned that tapeworms cause degrees of intestinal damage and disease. Dr. Bergin says, “This damage occurs when large numbers of tapeworms firmly attach to certain areas of the digestive tract, such as the small intestine or, more specifically, the ileocecal junction (the common opening of the ileum, colon and cecum). Their attachment can lead to inflammation, irritation and ulceration at this site, impairing normal function. This intestinal malfunction can also adversely affect the digestive tract, leading to three common types of colic associated with tapeworm infestation: ileocecal intussusception, ileocecal impaction and spasmodic colic.”

Those are the recognized problems caused by tapeworms. Undetermined are the problems a “typical” or low-grade tapeworm infection causes. “Does it cause low-grade diarrhea, low-grade colic, weight loss?” Dr. Reinemeyer ponders. “We don’t know. But anecdotal evidence suggests tapeworms may cause low-grade colic after intense exercise.”

Dealing With It

Even though prevention of tapeworms isn’t truly possible, you can successfully treat these parasites in a horse and prevent the onset of colic and other complications that may be related to tapeworm infection, notes Tom Kennedy, Ph.D., vice president of research and development, Farnam Companies Inc.

In the past, equine tapeworms were controlled with double or triple doses of pyrantel pamoate. “That did a fairly good job but was not 100 percent effective,” says Kevin Hankins, DVM, field veterinary consultant for Fort Dodge Animal Health. “It was costly plus it was sometimes a nightmare to get two or three tubes of dewormer into a horse.”

But the recent development of praziquantel in paste and gel formulations for horses offers an affordable, easier, and, to date, more effective alternative. “Praziquantel has been around for a long time, and has been used extensively in dogs and cats,” Dr. Hankins states. “It kills the tapeworms in the horse by destroying the worm’s protective, tough outer layer, thus making the parasite vulnerable to the horse’s immune system, which takes care of it from there.”

Explains Frank Hurtig, DVM, manager, Veterinary Professional Services at Merial Inc., “The addition of praziquantel to horse parasite control medicines containing macrocyclic lactone drugs (i.e. moxidectin and ivermectin) has been an advance in treatment and control of tapeworms in horses. Praziquantel has a wide margin of safety in horses.” Thus with one dose, praziquantel/macrocyclic lactone formulations offer treatment of tapeworms as well as broad-spectrum activity against strongyles, ascarids, pinworms, bots and other common horse parasites.

Currently, there are four praziquantel/macrocyclic lactone products available: ComboCare (Farnam), Equimax (Pfizer), Quest Plus (Fort Dodge) and Zimectrin Gold (Merial).

The only precaution is treating a horse infected with a lot of parasites or one that is clinically ill, Dr. Hankins says. “If they have a very high parasite load, you could end up causing an impaction from all of the parasites killed off in the gut. Also, when parasites die off, they can produce a toxin, and that can make your horse sick. If your horse is already ill or heavily parasitized, his immune system is likely suppressed and would react differently to a normal deworming schedule; that is why dewormers are labeled as only for use in healthy animals.” Some veterinarians treat at-risk horses by either administering a reduced dose and/or administering mineral oil 24 hours prior to deworming to help with the passage of the dead parasites.

Currently, praziquantel is labeled only for treatment, not prevention. But Dr. Hurtig notes, “Since tapeworms are extremely difficult to definitively diagnose in the live horse, it is best to simply treat for tapeworms on a frequent basis.” This will benefit horses, since using praziquantel products routinely at labeled dosage recommendations removes tapeworms before they become a problem instead of after a problem (i.e. colic) is apparent.

Work with your veterinarian to develop a program that’s specific for your horse and climate. Dr. Bergin says that there is not a single catch-all recipe for controlling parasites that works for every horse in every area—it’s based on a number of factors that need to be evaluated, and from there your veterinarian can create a plan.

Although praziquantel is safe, don’t overuse it as parasites likely will build resistance to it. Dr. Reinemeyer explains, “Frequent use of dewormers puts tremendous pressure on the parasites to adapt to survive this continuous onslaught, so they select for resistance. We’re seeing that now with ascarids and ivermectin.”

Include management techniques in your deworming program. “Good pasture hygiene is a critical management technique for the control of tapeworms as well as other parasites,” Dr. Bergin says. To reduce the spread of parasites, remove manure from stalls daily, dispose of fecal material away from pastures and feed/water supplies, and chain drag or harrow pastures to break up manure piles. Don’t feed your horses directly on the ground; this increases the risk of ingesting forage mites since it is where they typically reside. Avoid overcrowding or overgrazing pastures (rotate if possible). Finally, quarantine all new additions to the herd and perform fecal exams to determine parasite status in general and to avoid the introduction of parasites.

Down the LineWhile differentiating between tapeworm exposure and an active infection is still a guessing game, researchers hope to soon change that. Stephen Kania, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, has developed a test, with the support of the American Quarter Horse Association, that detects proteins released by the tapeworm parasite into fecal material. “This test differs from antibody detection in that a positive result is likely to indicate an active parasite infection,” Dr. Kania says. “We are currently at the stage of validating the test with samples from a large number of horses.” If all goes well, it’s possible this diagnostic test will be available in two or three years and could be a great aid in advancing knowledge on tapeworm infection.

Fortunately, you have the tools now to avoid tapeworm problems in your horse. Discuss the risks of infection in your area with your veterinarian and work out a responsible deworming program appropriate for your horse.